Deathclaws - The legend
by King KAM
Summary: Deathclaws have over run all of Nevada! The few survivors who are left are living inside the safe city of the , now quarantined, Vegas. With the courier gone, the new world government is struggling to keep Vegas from collapsing. Story of a teenager named: Aaron as he grows up into an adult in Freeside and finds out the true meaning of survival (with a twist). Chapter 5 plz? ;)
1. Chapter 1

Epilogue

During the second battle of Hoover Dam The courier and his 8 allies defeated both the Legion and the NCR with the help of the, now deceased, Mr House's army of securitrons. The courier took control of new Vegas and made it a sanctuary for the victims of the ruthless wasteland, he took in refugees no matter what affiliation they had. No matter how skilled the courier was, governing an entire region and it's people was no easy task, especially when you travelled a lot like he did. So the courier formed a new world government to keep New Vegas under control, Arcade Gannon and Raul were put in charge of the main affairs due to the ghouls experience and the the scientist's advanced intellect.

After a couple of years the New Vegas flourished under the leadership of the courier, who people now called 'the saviour,' for his efforts to breathe life and order into the otherwise dead wasteland. The government issued law enforcements to protect Vegas, securitrons could have done the same job however the growing population of Vegas increased the demand for jobs so the government started paying and educating people to work with the followers on medicine or guarding the civilians of Vegas.

Things seemed to be going well for a while so the courier set off to travel the wasteland in search of new technology, meeting new people or maybe just simply wandering. Some say that's why it happened, the saviour leaving Vegas was a bad Omen…

At first it didn't seem much of a threat, some travellers getting attacked by beasts from the wastes was considered the norm. But then rumours started to spread of entire villages getting wiped out by these beasts. In reaction to the the growing concerns of the public, the government launched an investigation into the killings. The reports that came back told of increase number of deathclaws. The increase in their numbers must have made them step out of their territory in search of more food and water. This explained the now empty towns of Goodsprings and Primm. To tackle the problem the government founded an organisation of hunters, specially trained killers that hunt down beasts, to lower the deathclaw numbers.

Even with the efforts of the elite hunters the deathclaws still continued to flourish in the Nevada desert. Towns were deserted as more and more deathclaws swarmed the Mojave. The government had to quarantine the city of Vegas. They built massive barriers that even the deathclaws couldn't break down but this in turn doomed Vegas. the people of Vegas were now trapped in their own city with the hordes of deathclaws surrounding Vegas, waiting for the governments hold on society to crumble and stoop in for the kill….

_Geographical note: Freeside in this fanfic circles the the city of vegas. So imagine a circle within another circle. The little circle in the big circle is new vegas and the bigger circle is freeside. _


	2. Chapter 2: Aaron and Co

Chapter 2: Meet Aaron and Co.

Aaron woke up, heart racing and drenched in sweat. He sat up and tried to catch his breath, taking bed cloth off himself he stood up from his dirty mattress and stretched. With a yawn he opened the tent flap. The smell of fire and shit filled his nostrils, almost too overpowering. He covered his nose in disgust as his eyes started to water. A boy his age approached him, the boy had short brown hair, dark brown eyes and his skin was tanned from the endless rays of the mojave sun. The boy came to a stop in front of Aaron and watched him as Aaron shook his head. The boy waited for Aaron to finally come back to reality and then he spoke in a bored and low voice "Your mum wants you,"

"What?" Aaron said, still light headed from the awful smell.

"your mum asked me to-"

"what is that god awful smell!?" Aaron shouted, putting his head in his hands now.

"I can't smell anything…" he paused, took a sniff and then replied "Nope nothing, its probably just you, would it kill you to wash once in a while?"

"Ahhh fuck you too" Aaron snorted, the lighted headedness passed and he stood up straight. "What does my mum want?"

"dunno" he replied.

Aaron pushed passed the boy and started walking in the direction of old Mormon fort, the boy caught up to him and matched his pace as they walked towards the fort. "You should really get that checked out, it might be something serious you know" The boy said, a worried expression on his face. "Listen Gayle, I told you to stop bugging me about that. I told you I've always been like this." Aaron replied frustratedly. Gayle and Aaron were best friends for as long a Aaron could remember but even his best friend got on his nerves sometimes . They reached the Mormon fort gate and Aaron turned to Gayle. "Don't mention this to my mum okay?"

"I don't have to say anything, the way you look will give it away…" Aaron ignored Gayle and opened the gate, they were met by a guard who nodded at them as they walked towards a mini tent, inside the tent there was a woman writing something on a clipboard. Julie Farkas turned around and smiled warmly towards Gayle who smiled back and then switched her gaze to Aaron. "You slept in…again" She studied the boy as he gave a yawn to show it was no big deal. "you're sweating as well.." she noticed.

"Yeah well that kinda happens when you live in the middle of a desert… mom" Aaron Farkas replied. Gayle watched the two mother and son argue, it reminded him of the mother he never had. Gayle caught himself (he hated feeling sorry for himself) and walked out of the tent to leave the parent and child to have their conversation. Gayle found a chair and sat on it, running his hand through his short brown hair as he enjoyed the heat on his skin. The fort's gate opened and another boy walked in. The 15 year old boy (a year older than Aaron and Gayle) had black hair and, unlike most of the boys in Freeside, wore slightly worn out trousers with a light brown shirt, but despite being better dressed than most kids he wore no shoes. Gayle waved his hand and shouted "Blaine." The well dressed boy saw Gayle and walked towards him. Gayle stood up and greeted Blaine by bumping fists. "What's new?" Blaine asked as he found another chair next to Gayle and sat down.

"Aaron's with his mom and im sitting here procrastinating" Gayle replied, sitting down.

"Procrastinating?"

"Yeah its this new word I found in the White coat's library, it means to do nothing"

"Suits you just fine" Gayle shrugged and as he did Aaron walked out of the tent with a piece of paper in his hand. He noticed Blaine sitting next to Gayle and grinned, "Well, well if it isn't the Smart ass Blaine"

"Wassup Ginge?" (_By the way, Aaron has dark red hair)_ Blaine grinned back and shook hands with Aaron whilst Gayle sat in his chair...procrastinating. Gayle didn't have the same relationship with Aaron as Blaine did, Gayle was more cool and calm whilst the other two were loud and annoying, well at least that's what he thought.

"What's with the paper?" Blaine asked, noticing the piece of paper in Aaron's hand.

"My mum wants me to deliver the supply list to the atomic wrangler…" Aaron replied. Blaine grinned again. "Coolio ill come too, for.. back up"

"I swear after they employed that ghoul, cow girl you always find an excuse to go to the casino..." Gayle said innocently whilst getting up. Blaine playfully swung for Gayle's head who ducked down and raised his fists, punching the air a couple of times to show off his masterful skill. Aaron walked passed the two warriors and pushed the Mormon fort gate, "Lets get this over with, I wanna go see what the gangs up to." and with that, the three left the Mormon fort…

Freeside was a big place, if you walked through all east, west, north and south sectors of the place, it would take you a couple of hours at least. Freeside was littered by metal bins that people used to burn things in to keep warm. The buildings that surrounded the main path were occupied by shop owners or inhabitants who claimed the building first. The people who came here after their towns were invaded by death claws had to make do with tents or a nice soft spot on the concrete floor. Blaine was a refugee who ran away from home because of an argument with his parents, two days later deathclaws attacked and killed everyone from his town. People told Blaine that he was lucky, that fate had given him a second chance but he could never forgive himself for not being there for his parents in their hour of need. Not that he could've done anything against the enormous giants but he beat himself over it everyday. Aaron found Blaine a couple of days after, sleeping on the concrete floor and offered him a spare mattress in his tent, they were friends ever since.

After a 20 minute walk, the three finally reached the alley way to the atomic wrangler. "Wanna get lucky?" shouted the atomic wrangler promoter.

"Sure do baby, come here" Blaine perked his lips made kiss faces at the the promoter.

"eww… fuck off!" she flipped Blaine the finger and turned around to scout for potential customers. Aaron and Gayle laughed as Blaine clenched his chest to symbolise a broken a heart. Still laughing they walked into the atomic wrangler and Aaron gave the piece of paper to James Garrett who nodded at Aaron after reading the piece of paper, then all three of them walked back out. "Well… that was eventful…" Blaine said after they closed the door of the casino behind them. "What did you expect?" asked Aaron.

"I dunno maybe a hot piece of ass?"

"In your dreams" Gayle retorted. That got a chuckle out of Aaron and a glare from Blaine. They continued on the main path for a while and found a group of people gathered around the strips south gate entrance. The crowd slowly parted as a group of 10-15 Hunters walked through. They didn't walk in a line like NCR troopers or legionnaires and didn't have a strict uniform. Some of them wore dusters with desperado hats and some wore simple leather armour, each of them carried a variety of weapons from anti-material rifles to revolvers. They had a strange calmness around the group that left the spectating crowd with a sense of awe. Blaine in particular watched the marching group with admiration, he loved their style, and envied their calm attitude, knowing that they might not come back alive. The group marched on and Aaron turned from them as he and his 2 friends continued their walk to the Freeside Ghettos...


	3. Chapter 3

_**Please feel free to review the story, I would really like to hear other people's thoughts on what they liked/disliked and their predictions on where the story is headed!**_

Chapter 3: The nightmare

The Freeside Ghetto. The place where all the kids and teenagers hung out to pass the day. Most parents were either too busy to make sure their kids weren't getting into to trouble or they were simply not bothered. Most of the children here were abandoned on the followers doorstep by the hookers at the Gomorrah casino or by various travellers that could not take on the burden of raising a child. With no adults to protect them, the children sought out the protection of the Freeside gangs. The gangs were basically groups of kids who banded together, the kids stood a better chance against the paedophiles, rapists and other criminals by being in groups… it was safety in numbers.

Aaron and his friends came to a very long alleyway with a worn out and broken road, littered with bottles, boxes and empty syringes. On the pavement were groups of kids from children of 10 to kids well into their teens. Aaron, Blaine and Gayle approached a group of 4 kids. There was a short bony boy that had freckles dotted across his face, a girl with jet black hair and skin as pale as snow, another boy who was as tall as Blaine but was a lot stronger and finally a girl with dark brown hair.

"Sup boys, took you guys long enough to come here, I was starting to worry about you!" the short freckled boy greeted them with a loud voice, full of enthusiasm. Aaron paused and held his hand against his temple. Blaine and Gayle carried on past him, not noticing their friend's migraine. Blaine grinned and locked hands with the short boy. "How you been Tommy?"

"I'm alright, could do with a bit more jet you know?"

"Lay off that shit man, what would your mother say" Gayle tutted as he nodded towards the rest of the group.

"She would tell me to get her some!" Tommy laughed and then glanced towards Aaron, his laughter died away. "Hey... is he alright?" The entire group turned their attention towards Aaron. The pale girl walked towards him and put her hand on his shoulder but Aaron knocked it off. He was breathing heavily and started to sweat again. "I'm...fine…" Aaron wheezed, "Just need... a... quick fixer and... I'll be fine…" He stumbled towards Tommy and held his hand out. Tommy looked nervously towards the rest of the group. "Come on Tommy, don't be a pussy!" Aaron said, raising his voice now. "Look man… whatever's happening to you, won't be fixed by a fixer!" Blaine interrupted, putting his hand on Aaron's shoulder. Aaron turned from Tommy and faced Blaine. "Funny, I thought thats what the name's for" The brown haired girl walked in between the 2 boys to separate them. "Everyone needs to calm down…" She said with a light tone, her voice trembled a little. She hated conflict, especially when it was between her own. Before the matter could escalate further, the pale girl noticed 3 men walking down the alley and nudged the muscular boy, motioning towards the the three figures. Mark (the boy as tall as Blaine but more muscular) turned to the group and whispered, "Calm it, that ass hole is back." The group and all the other kids in the alley turned towards the trio of older men as they walked through the centre of the broken, beat down alley. The man who seemed to be leading the trio stopped in front of the first group of kids. The kids gave him a small bag, the man weighed it in his hand, when he was satisfied, he continued to the next group. "I'm a little short…Alana you got anymore?" Tommy whispered to the pale girl, who emptied her pockets as an answer to his question. Tommy looked towards the rest of them. The brown haired girl pulled out a small bag and gave it to Tommy. Tommy gave her a worried look, "What about you?" Tommy questioned.

"I'll be fine" she replied.

"What are you doing, you're gonna get killed!" Aaron whispered harshly. The trio moved from the last group and started walking towards Aaron and the gang. "He won't do anything to me, Tommy on the other hand-"

"Well...well...well… what do we have here?" The leader of the trio grinned. The man wore a dirty shirt and jeans with a holster which was occupied with a pistol. Alana casually stepped in front of Tamara (the brown haired girl) and held out a bag of caps. The man greedily snatched the bag bounced it in his hand. Satisfied he moved on to the next person. The group positioned themselves in front of Tamara, hoping that the man will just forget about her. Aaron passed the man his share of the caps, not looking directly into the man's eyes. He was confused. The headache lessened but was still there. He ignored the pain and focused on the situation, trying hard to control himself. His emotions and thoughts were all muddled up, he gritted his teeth in frustration and tried not to show any weakness. The man spat in front of Aaron and was about to turn around and leave when he noticed Tamara's dark brown hair in between Blaine and Marks heads. "Oh, how can I forget about you..." The man pushed Blaine and Mark aside and smiled at Tamara. "I..I don't have any today" she stuttered, "I... p..p..promise I'll bring some tomorrow." The man tutted and shook his head to show that he wasn't impressed. "Now, Now that cannot be.. you know the rules…" He held Tamara's chin and leaned in close to her. "You gotta pay the debt you owe me for letting you stay here…" He eyed Tamara up and down, "I've got an idea for a way you can pa-" Aaron grabbed the man's hand and pulled it away from Tamara.

" ." Aaron glared at the man with such ferocity that the man stepped back. Blaine and Mark jumped on the man's companions. Taken by surprise, the two goons fell down and were defenceless against the barrage of fists that Blaine and Mark threw into their faces. The man looked back at his companions and realising that they were under attack, he started to draw out his pistol. Aaron connected a fist on the man's jaw, taking him by surprise. Gayle, taking advantage of Aaron's assault, snatched the pistol out of the dazed adult. Alana grabbed Tommy and Tamara and sprinted out of the alley, leaving the rest of the gang to deal with the trio. Gayle held a pistol at the man's head and shouted at his goons to stop. Mark and Blaine got up from their opponents and joined Aaron and Gayle. Gayle slowly started to walk back, his pistol still focused on the man, who had now recovered from Aaron's punch and was standing with his hands up. "You...are making a big... mistake" The man warned as his goons stood up, their faces bruised and bleeding. "Shut up!" Gayle spat, "You three are gonna stay in that spot until me and my friends have left, If any of you move a muscle, I'll put a bullet in your head!" The three, realising they were defeated, obeyed. Gayle and everyone else slowly backed away until they put a big enough distance between them and the trio. Then, one by one, the 4 turned around and ran from the previously safe alley of Freeside.


	4. Chapter 4 : School

**_Previously on 'Deathclaws' - With the courier gone, New Vegas was left to fend off the hordes of the Deathclaws. With the threat of the deathclaws growing the government quarantined The city of New Vegas… But how long will they be able to last? Aaron (a ginger boy who gets way too many headaches) and his friends Blaine, Gayle, Tamara, Tommy, Alana and Mark, are on the run after a things go south with a group of thugs..._**

Chapter 4 (fallout 4 confirmed) : School

After a couple of minutes of running they spotted Tamara, Tommy and Alana, and reunited with the group. Blaine cursed, as he leaned against a broken street lamp to catch his breath. "WE ARE SO FUCKED!"

No one argued, because they knew it was true. You didn't mess with Joonka (the man) and got away with it. Joonka was apart of 'The Great Khans,' the tribe with the infamous reputation that stretched all the way from west to east. When the Deathclaws attacked, the tribe had no choice but to abandon their home in Red Rock Canyon and seek shelter, in New Vegas. The courier welcomed the tribe on the condition that they won't cause any trouble. The Great Khans reluctantly promised to not cause any problems but that promise was broken after the courier left…

"It's all my fault" Tommy confessed. "If I had just a few more caps…"

"No use crying about it, what's done is done, you can't change anything about it" Mark said as he rubbed his knuckles.

"He's right" Aaron agreed, his headache was almost completely gone. "The best thing we can do now is keep our heads low and wait for this to blow over." Silence fell over the group as they tried to absorb the full magnitude of the event that transpired that morning.

"Well, they are going to be after us 4" Blaine motioned towards Mark, Aaron and Gayle.

"And if they are after you, they will just come for all of us…" Temara added. Gayle closed his eyes, deep in thought, for a while. He assessed the different possible outcomes that may occur from the different actions they might take. Judging the possibilities of several outcomes he thought, then rethought and then checked to see which idea proved most fruitful. He opened his eyes. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, Gayle rubbed his temple and sighed. "The safest place in Freeside is old Mormon fort. We'll just have to hang around or near there for awhile." He concluded.

"I can't" Both Tommy and Blaine replied in unison.

"I have to look after my mum" Tommy went first.

"And I, unlike you guys, have responsibilities outside of that fort." Blaine finished. "Our other options include, trying to get into the strip to get away from Jooka, ask 'The King' for help or put a bullet into Jooka's skull without any witnesses." Gayle added the last point with a bit of sarcasm. The other two points were as bad because the security around the strip gate was really tight and 'The King' hasn't seen anyone or appeared in public ever since his brother, Pacer, was mysteriously murdered in a shootout. The group nervously looked at each other, no one wanted to be selfish and abandon Tommy and Blaine, but they also didn't want to get killed… Blaine laughed. "Relax, me and Tommy will manage, you guys go on ahead." Blaine motioned Tommy to follow him and they both started to walk away from the group. "Blaine" Gayle stopped him, Blaine turned around to see Gayle holding out Jooka's pistol, Gayle nodded for him to take it. Blaine slowly took the gun and gripped it tightly. "Just… don't shoot yourself in the foot." Aaron grinned at Blaines' reaction. Blaine looked up from the gun and saw his friends smiling at him, he chuckled and then turned. Holding the gun over his head as a sign of appreciation. The remaining group watched Blaine and Tommy walk down the broken road until they turned a corner and disappeared. "Come on…" Aaron said, "lets go." They all turned to the road leading to old Mormon fort…

The government paid the guards to protect the citizens of new vegas against the thugs of the Freeside slums. However after the courier left, some of the gangs became more courageous in their efforts to gain some status in freeside. This made it extremely hard to keep law and order in the streets, as gangs fought with each other to see who can come on top. Being a guard didn't pay enough for the constant threat of having your life at stake. Only a few people took up the job of 'Guards,' some did it for an honest living and some did it to have a sidearm as protection in Freeside. With only a few guards and not much funding to them, they were stationed at high level places. One of these place included the HQ of the followers in the Nevada, Mormon Fort. Aaron and his friends walked through the gate. A guard eyed over the group as they entered. He was carrying a 10mm pistol, ready to be fired if need be. The group followed Aaron over to his mom's tent. However before they got any closer a guard stopped them. This guard was special, he wore a white T - shirt, black pants and a strange red hat. "Julie is busy." He simply said and was about to turn away when Temara exclaimed, "Wait… you're no guard," she squinted against the sun to see the man's face. "Are you… who I think you are?" No reply. The man simply sighed his annoyance at the child. "Craig Boone…" Aaron realised. "Whats a legend like you doing in this part of the streets." Aaron inquired.

Boone glanced at Aaron's direction. Medium height, dark red hair, reddish white skin. There was no mistaking it, he was Julie's son. Boone gave Aaron an odd look and was about to say something when the tent flap opened. "Make sure you manage the supplies correctly… we don't want anything wasted..." A light blonde head popped out of the tent. Under the blonde head was a nerdy looking man wearing a white shirt, trousers and black shoes. He had the look of an over worked man, he was sweating, his shirt was untucked and messy, and he had dark circles under his eyes. The man straightened up and stretched when he noticed a group of teenagers behind Boone. He slowly walked passed Boone and stopped in front of the group of kids. He eyed the group, scanning each and everyone of their faces one by one. This made Temara uncomfortable and she started to fidget. The man's eye passed on to Mark who returned the stare, when he moved onto Alana she avoided his gaze. Then finally the man rested his gaze onto the remaining two boys. Gayle and Aaron both stared at the man as the man stared back. His face was serious, he had a menacing look on his face. Suddenly the man broke into laughter. The group looked at each other in confusion. "You have to stop doing that…" Boone said, the man's laughter died down and he walked towards the gate, Boone followed him out. Julie got out of the tent and saw Aaron watching the two figures walk out. "Oh, what are you doing here so early?" Julie asked. Aaron turned to her, "who was that man?" Aaron asked, ignoring Julie's question. Julie gave Aaron a look, to see if he was joking or not, but the seriousness in his question reassured her that he wasn't. "You seriously didn't recognise Mr Craig and professor Gannon?"

"Professor Gannon?!" Gayle exclaimed. "You mean Arcade Gannon?" A wave of realisation washed over the group as they stood there open mouthed at who they just met…

Arcade and Boone walked through the Freeside streets. Boone had accompanied the courier several times through the slums but no matter how long he spent in the place, he could never get used to the smell and the horrible sight of the poverty. A drunken man stumbled towards the pair. "Heeyyyy, your that big guy calling the shots at the strip aren't ya?" he spluttered. "Could you spare me a few cappssss?" Both Boone and Arcade ignored him and continued walking as the man cursed them. After a while Arcade sighed. "This is not going well…the Y type greenhouse's photosynthesis adapter is at near breaking point. If we lose that, then I'm not sure whether or not we will be able to sustain the already shortened rations…" he trailed off into silence. Boone watched the stress that was imprinted on the man's face. "Quite a mess we gotten ourselves into…" Boone said, trying to change the subject. "WE didn't get into nothing, it was the courier who had left us in this crappy situation!"

"He couldn't predicted our situation," Boone reasoned.

"It's been 9 years since we closed Vegas, why hasn't he returned?" Boone opened his mouth but then paused, there was no answer to that question. As much as he respected the courier, he couldn't think of any reason why the courier didn't return. The pair made their way through a gate that led to the path straight towards the strip, both were in deep thought and concern over the future of New Vegas.

Aaron and some other kids were setting up chairs next to the mormon fort wall. There was a black board nailed to the opposite end of the wall with a piece of chalk and eraser on a chair next to the board. After setting up 30 or so chairs Aaron, his friends and a couple of other kid sat down. After a while more and more people filled the seats and then finally Julie stood in front of the class. "We got a special guest that is volunteered to teach you today," she announced, "so show him the same respect as you would your other teachers." Julie stepped aside and an elderly man walked into view. He was mostly bald with hair on his sides and walked with a little limp. "Hi… my name is Doc Mitchell…"

_The man wore a worn out tux. It was ripped in many places and the bow tie wasn't done up properly, he also didn't wear any shoes or socks. The figure walked through an entrance to a cave. A deathclaw raised his head at the approaching figure and straightened up. Who was this foolish human, did he WANT to get his head ripped off? The man came closer to the deathclaw and his face became clearer. The deathclaw immediately stepped aside to let the figure walk man continued through the deathclaw infested cave. He eventually came across a clearing. A massive opening in the were sitting at the edge of the clearing, they all started to fidget, and snap their teeth at the human as he walked to the centre of the room. A crack in the cave ceiling shone a small ray of light in the darkness. The light reflected off of the man's eyes, revealing two deep dark red irises. The man smiled at a dark mass sitting opposite the man. In reply to his smile the mass parted it's mouth, revealing a razor sharp set of teeth…_

_**Author notes: I am planning on continuing the story, depending on the amount of support I get, please review the chapter for your thoughts and guesses to where the story is headed.**_


	5. Chapter 5: The real start of the story

_**Previously on 'Deathclaws' - Aaron, Temara, Gayle, Alana and Mark left their friends Tommy and Blaine as they head towards mormon fort to lay low from the Great Khans and in the meantime attend class with their special guest Doctor Mitchell… **_

**Chapter 5: The real start of the story**

Normally the students were taught maths, reading and basic skills like cooking different types of food or protecting themselves from disease. There was no curriculum, children mainly just needed to know how to survive and read messages off of signs that were placed all over Freeside and the strip. This allowed to followers to spot potential in the children, once certain children started showing great skill in a particular field they would educate them further, like being a doctor, engineer or researcher. However, due to the food shortages and law and order being low, the followers had to deal with a large influx of injured and sick people to deal with and teach the children further. Thats why they asked for volunteers, and surprisingly enough, Mr Mitchell came up.

Dr Mitchell gave the class a history lesson. How life was like before the war, why there was a war and how humanity's remnants survived. The majority of the class started to get bored, some started fidgeting and throwing things at each other. Aaron too, got bored and started to do the same, Temara listened politely and Gayle listened with mild interest as he tapped the desk to amuse himself (he had already read about the 'great' war).

Doctor Mitchell, noticing the student's disinterest, sighed. "I guess it's not THAT interesting, huh?"

Aaron threw a pencil on the back of Mark's head who turned around to glare at a confused Gayle as Aaron pretended to whisper to Temara. Temara gave him a dirty look and nodded toward Doctor Mitchell.

"Maybe you will be interested in the story behind the courier," the class slowly stopped their fidgeting and noise. Everyone's eyes and ears were trained at the old man in front of them. Everyone knew who the courier was and what he did but other than that, the man's origins was a mystery.

"What can an old man like you know about the courier?" someone from the, now interested, audience spoke out.

"Well I don't know much about the man…" some of the eyes started to wander again, "but I did save his life." The eyes returned to the old man.

"Wait… you saved him after he got shot in the head?" Gayle asked.

"Thats right, took out the bullet, cleaned the wound, and helped him recover." The old man's eyes stared off into the distance as he recalled the time a robot came knocking on his doorstep with a body in it's arms. "How come he didn't die from the head injury, was he wearing a helmet or something?" Temara asked.

Doctor Mitchells eyes focused on the girl, "To tell you the truth, I have no idea… all he had on his head was a straw hat but the bullet didn't go past his skull, he was either really lucky or just had a thick head." He knocked on his own head to show the thickness, some of the students chuckled.

"I only know snippets of what happened next, all I know is that he went south to Primm," Mr Mitchell scratched his head, "I did hear about him helping some folk out in Novac and camp McCarran..." Doctor Mitchell trailed off, not sure what to say next. Even though he was responsible for the man's life and spent weeks nursing him back to health… the courier was still a stranger to him.

"What was he like?" Mark asked, trying to help to old man out with his tale. Doctor Mitchell continued talking about the courier, how friendly he was, and how fast he moved when he got out of bed. The class listened intently to the story, trying to absorb every tiny bit of detail the could about the 'saviour.' This annoyed Aaron more than it should have, something in him just snapped. How can they idolize and worship someone like that?! He thought.

"He insisted that I keep-"

"Do you people have any decency?" Aaron burst out, attracting the attention of the followers and injured people in the fort. "He was a spineless coward who hid behind his stupid dog and the sniper, the only reason he lived through the battle of the dam was because he had mister House's securitron army backing him up!" Now everyone stared at the flame headed boy. "Are you forgetting how he hung us out to dry?!" Aaron stood up from his chair, his hands were balled up into angry fists. "It was never his attention to look after us, you people give him credit for something he did by MISTAKE." His fist shook with rage. " He knew the deathclaws were going to come, he knew that Vegas will get attacked, and HE LEFT, knowing what will happen to us!" Aaron finished his rant.

He felt everyone's eyes trained on him. Everyone shocked at the teenagers sudden outburst. "You… alright there, son?" Doctor Mitchell asked, his was voice felt quieter compared to the teenagers bellowing. Aaron looked around, everyone was staring at him. He didn't know what came over him… he didn't realise how angry he got… he jus-

A shock of pain burst through his head. His hand reached for his forhead. Aaron's eyes widened, the pain has never been this strong before. "Aaron…" Temara reached out to him. Aaron didn't like being in the centre of attention… not like this, not with this overpowering headache, he couldn't think clearly. Everything was a mess. His head throbbed with another wave of pain and he gasped. He lowered his head into both of his hands. "Aaron…" Temara stood up. Suddenly without a second thought, Aaron sprinted, the headache made everything a haze and he crashed into a guard, falling onto the floor.

"You okay there, kid?" The guard eyed Aaron. The boy grunted, got on to his feet and sprinted for the exit gate. Whilst sprinting he caught a glimpse of a surprised looking Julie Farkas. "Aaron wait!" Julie called out but it was too late, Aaron burst through the gate and ran aimlessly through the streets, still clenching his head.

_**Meanwhile...**_

_Rick Nilofer was a man of few words. He spent his time on guard duty, reading old world magazines and staring into the empty wastes. He sometimes spotted a wondering deathclaw, sniffing the air, but they usually stayed away from the Freeside entrance. At first the deathclaws tried to break through the metal barriers, but soon realised that even they, the strongest beasts of the wastes, couldn't penetrate the heavy defences of Vegas. Rick was reading a magazine, TALK THE TALK, when he noticed a man walking towards the entrance. Rick stood up and grabbed his binoculars, he aimed them at the figure walking towards the gate. This was very unusual. Life barely existed outside the metallic prison, unless of course it was 12ft tall and had thick, sharp claws. The man came into a better view. The figure was wearing a suit, dusty from the sand, and hung a duffel bag over his shoulder. The man, oddly enough, wasn't wearing any shoes…_

_Rick called out from his position above the gate. "Sir, we got a survivor out there!" The commanding officer of the Freeside entrance wore a distinctive black coat with the word 'Vegas' sewn just below the shoulder. "Come again Mr Nilo, did you just say that there's a survivor out there?!" Rick shouted a confirmation from on top of the metal gate. The officer quickly sprung into action. He barked orders to the 3 other guards at the post, telling them to open the gate and stay alert. Pulling out his .44 magnum revolver, he watched as the metal gate open. The strange man broke into a jog. The commander watched as the barefoot stranger jogged passed the gate and let his duffel bag drop to the floor. The guards quickly closed the heavy gate behind him. The man stretched , making clicking noises with his hands and then his neck. Even though this was a rare sight, and the commander wanted to question the strange man on how he survived out there, he still had to follow protocol. "We'll need to make a profile of you before you go in, think of it as your very own ID." The three guards finished locking the gate, one of them grabbed a clipboard and pencil off of the table. The guard stood next to the commander. "Name?" The guard asked._

"_Very secure place you got here," the man noticed, looking behind him at the heavy gate and locks. _

"_I asked for your na-" _

"_I'm surprised a group of this size…" he watched as a noisy crowd of curious people formed, gathering around to have a look at the mysterious survivor, "has survived for this long…"_

"_If you do not cooperate, we will throw you outside!" The commander almost shouted. _

_The man started to walk past the pair of guards, but the commander grabbed his arm. The man looked at the commander's hand with a mild interest. "Your last chance…" the commander threatened, gripping his revolver tight. The man stared up at the commander, only now did the commander notice the man's deep dark red eyes. The spectating audience went quiet. The guards behind the man drew their pistols, Rick watched the scene unfold from the safety of the top of the gate._

_Suddenly without warning, the man grabbed the commanders arm and twisted. "ARGHH!" the commander dropped down on his knees. The guards behind the man took aim with their pistols. The man grabbed the commander and threw him at the guards faster than they could blink. The Commander came crashing down on top of the two guards. The remaining guard dropped his clipboard and fumbled his holster for his pistol. The man tutted, grabbed the back of the guard's head and pulled it back, revealing his vulnerable neck. The red eyed figure straightened his hand and sliced the guard's throat with the tip of his hardened hand, as if he was cutting through butter._

_The poor guard fell to the floor as blood gushed out of his throat. "No!" the commander jumped to his feet and let loose 3 bullets from his revolver. The man in the suit dodged the bullets without much effort. Then a bullet hit his arm. The man looked up in surprise at Rick who was holding out a 10mm pistol. The other 2 guards were back on their feet now as well. The murderer sighed, he took off his suit jacket and then his bow tie, wrapping it around the gunshot wound on his arm. "What a waste.." he whispered to himself as he bolted towards the three guards. The 3 of them were taken back at the speed of the man as they tried to shoot their target. The man struck one of the guards deep into his stomach, sending him flying into the metal gate where he hit his head and fell unconscious. The commander turned his revolver to the man who simply knocked it aside and slit the commanders throat with his hand. The remaining guard pulled out a combat knife as he charged at the man. He tried stabbing the man multiple times but the man kept stepping out of the way. Then the guard lunged too far forward, giving the man the perfect opportunity. _

_The stranger grabbed the guard's wrist and twisted making him drop his knife, the guard winced in pain but didn't let up his attack, he tried punching the man with his uninjured hand but the man blocked it. The red eyed monster stepped forward and head butt the guard straight in the head, shattering his skull. He rubbed his head as the corpse fell onto the floor. Rick jumped from on top of the gate and onto the man. They both rolled over each other until the man kicked Rick off of him. Then the man sat on top of Rick and punched him in the face several times. Rick's face was covered in blood and he had a black eye, the guard had no fight left it him. _

_The man put his hands in his pockets and walked towards his duffel bag. He pulled out two square objects. The shocked crowd of spectators squinted to get a better look, the man noticed this and smiled. He walked back toward the gate and placed the 2 square objects on to the gate. He walked back and pulled out another object from his duffel bag. The object looked like a stick with a red switch. A wave of realisation swept through the crowd. "Wh- What are you doing?" someone from the crowd asked. The man didn't answer, he kept walking, one hand in his pocket the other hand holding the object. The crowd parted as he walked through, when he reached the other side of the crowd, he turned. "Have a nice day" He grinned, turning back around he pressed the trigger…_

Aaron stopped next to a street lamp as he catched his breath as he tried to get his mind under control. Julie and Temara caught up to him. "Aaron what happ-" one of them was about to ask, he couldn't make out who, but he cut them off. "Leave me alone!" he shouted. The pain in his brain was too intense for him to concentrate on anything, he just wanted peace and quiet, he just wanted to be alone. Temara and Julie looked at each other, not sure on how to proceed.

Someone laughed from behind them.

Julie and Temara turned to see a man with a sleeveless black jacket and a tyre iron in his hands. Joonka. "So this is where you little shits have been hiding!" the Great Khan's member grinned. Two men (his goons) stepped up from behind him, one was carrying a pistol, the other carrying a baseball bat. "The Great Khans don't have any business here." Julie said, noticing their specific attire, "leave us."

"Oh sweety, the thing is we DO have business here," He said in a fake polite manner, "step away from the boy, me and him got a score to settle." Julie and Temara stepped in front of Aaron, who was on the floor, his head buried in his hands. The sound of gunshots echoed through the streets. The trio of Great Khans looked into the direction of the noise. "Hmph.. wonder what happened there," Joonka mused, he turned his attention back to the follower, "Step aside now or my friends here will fuck you up!" He snarled. Julie stood her ground, Tamara's heart started beating with the escalating situation. Someone rose from behind Temara and Julie. His breathing was sharp. Temara and Julie turned to see Aaron, with blood shot eyes standing behind them. He pushed from between Julie and Temara and confronted the three Khans. The one with the gun pulled it out and pointed it at Aaron. "You want to kill me, go ahead!" Aaron growled is a hoarse voice. "COME ON!" Aaron shouted. The great Khan holding the gun looked uneasily towards Joonka, who glared at the red headed boy. Joonka's glare softened into a casual look, "If you wanted to die so badly, why didn't you say so?" Joonka swung his tyre iron and struck Aaron with a blow to the head. Aaron collapsed to the floor. Julie tried to defend Aaron but the Great Khan with the baseball pushed her aside and pinned her against the wall. Joonka snatched the gun off of his goon. "Take care of that bitch," he nodded at Temara. Temara immediately started to back away as the tall blurry man advanced towards her. Joonka crouched next to Aaron, who was covering his head. He was moaning in agony. "I warned you not to mess with me kid. Now you see... I want to forgive you, I really do, but the thing is… that will look bad on me image, you understand?" Aaron moaned in reply. Joonka stood up and pointed the gun straight at Aaron's head. "Let me put you out of your misery!" Joonka pulled the trigger, at the same time as the gunshot, a loud boom echoed through the streets of Freeside. The ground shook. Aaron went quiet. And Temara screamed his name...

_**How annoying was that cliffhanger, on a scale from 1-10? ;) As always, review/comment your thoughts on the chapter!**_

_**Who is that mysterious man? What's going to happen to Aaron? Where are Tommy and Blaine? Will Alana and Mark get any character development?! **_

_**You'll find out next time on: 'Deathclaws - the legend.'**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Death beckons **

_The plastic squares that the red eyed man placed on the gate turned out to be a pair of C4s. They blew up the heavy metal lock and shock wave from the blast shattered nearby windows of buildings. The crowd that watched the battle between the guards and the mysterious man were injured from the shattered glass and from the blast of the explosion. A boy,from the dazed crowd, stood up slowly, his head still ringing from the bang and his palms were cut by the broken glass on the floor. He tried to make sense of what just happened. Looking around, he could not spot the stranger anywhere. His eyes focused on the the gate, the view of it was covered in black smoke. The boy's eyes lowered down from the the gate and he saw a body on the floor. He limped towards the body. The man on the floor had his arm and leg blown off, his face was bloodied and so was the remainder of his body. The boy could just about make out the name tag on the black uniform but, unfortunately, he couldn't read. The boy crouched down and started to go through the guards pockets. A weak moan escaped the man's lips, followed by a light choking noise as more blood came out of his his mouth. The boy ignored the man and carried on trying to scavenge as much as he could from his pockets, as far as the boy was concerned, the man was dead. A heavy thud came from the direction of the gate. The boy's head shot up. another thud. The boy stood up quickly, a sharp pain exploded in his leg and he fell onto the floor. Another thud. The boy started to crawl but the effort was putting too much strain on his body, so he abandoned his attempt and peered at the direction of the smoke. a beast like silhouette started to form. The smoke slowly cleared away to reveal the biggest deathclaw the boy has ever seen. Its skin was jet black all over except for its belly, which was a light grey colour. The horns were twisted upwards into a deadly looking crown. The most distinct feature of the beast was its claws. They were at least 11 inches long and were as thick as the boy's pathetic little arm. The deathclaw opened its eyes, revealing a pair of grey dots. The boy sat on the ground, eyes wide open and his jaw dropped. He stared helplessly as the impossibly huge monster walked towards him. It stepped on the guard that the boy attempted to scavenge, crushing its internal organs with a single step, ending the man's misery. The deathclaw paused, lifted his foot to see what fly it just stepped on. The boy screamed 'MOVE!' in his head but the giant's appearance had temporarily frozen his muscles. The black deathclaw got closer, the boy shut his eyes and held his breath, awaiting a claw to slice him open or a massive foot to squash him. He listened as the heavy footsteps approached… they came closer and closer, until… the giant walked passed him. The boy opened his eyes, and slowly turned to see the back of the deathclaw. It had a few thorns sticking out. The boy released his breath, a strange happiness washed over him, he didn't realise it but he had tears streaming down his face. He eased up his muscles, still trembling, and turned. 2 deathclaws were fighting to get through the gate, behind them, were 100s more. The boys face dropped, his fear took hold of him again. He slowly closed his eyelids and accepted his fate as a swarm of deathclaws poured through the gate…_

Tamara studied Aaron's wide open eyes. They stared at the sky, full of shock, pain but with a hint of relief, if that was any comfort. Tamara slowly walked up to Aaron and dropped down to her knees. "Aaron?" she nudged him. No response. "Aaron wake up!" she shook him harder.

"Can't you see, the ass hole is dead you stupid bitch!" Joonka spat. Tamara looked up at the man's face, he spat of the floor and smirked. Tamara thought of herself as being a decent person, she never wanted to hurt anybody no matter how much they got on her nerves. But as of that moment, she had an overwhelming urge to kill the man that stood in front of her. She stood up and ran towards the Jooka whilst screaming on top of her lungs. Julie stepped in front of the man and grabbed Tamara, restricting her movements. Tamara tried to get out of Julie's grip, but it was closed, iron shut. Temara stopped struggling and glared up at Julie. Julie's eyes were wet. "Please stop," she whispered, "its not gonna help anything…" her voice was hollow and distant. Tamara looked away, Julie let go of her. Joonka laughed, "that's right bitch, better back the fuck up, if you know what's good for ya!" Temara shot daggers at the man, Joonka grinned and was about to say something when 100s of screams filled the air. Everybody turned their head towards the direction of the cacophonous noise, Julie ignored them and still had her head down. A couple of people ran from around the corner, behind them were a pair of deathclaws, hot on their heels. "What the fuck!?" Joonka's goon exclaimed. One of the deathclaws finally caught up to the running human, the beast's bit into the humans neck as they both crash onto the floor. "Boss, we gotta move… boss?" The other goon looked around for Joonka, only to find him sprinting towards the strip gate. The pair cursed and followed their boss. Tamara grabbed, the still dazed, Julie and pulled her along as she too raced for the strip. The long main road to the strip seemed to stretch for miles. People were running out of the atomic wrangler and various other shops and buildings, all scrambling to get to the safety behind the strip south gate. It was chaos, people were pushing and shoving, everyone trying to get to the front, everyone scared for their lives. The swarm of deathclaws picked off those who were struggled to keep up with the fleeing crowd of fragile humans. Julie started to run on her own feet after a while but her gaze was still distant. "Is it... bad if I... don't feel anything…?" Julie mumbled, as she raced against the crowd, towards the gate. "What are… you on about?!" Tamara replied as she pushed aside a man who was running too slow. "I've took care of him for years… but I didn't feel anything when he died…" Tamara nearly tripped over a fallen man but regained her balance. "You were his mother!" Tamara shouted.

"Maybe its because I've been around death for so long…" Julie carried on, ignoring Tamara. The crowd of fleeing people was thinning out, deathclaws ran on the side of the herd of humans, picking them off from behind and the sides as well. "I'm not his mother." Julie simply said. Tamara nearly stopped running, but a growl from behind her jolted her legs into action. "Wha… what do you mean…" Tamara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Everybody envied Aaron for having a strong, stable parent. They were hard to come by.

A deathclaw bit off a man's head, who was running next to Julie. Blood splattered all over her face, shaking her from her dream like state. She wiped some blood from her eyes and continued running. Tamara right behind her. "How can you-" Tamara began, but tripped over a rock, more people tripped over her. Julie, noticing this, turned around. She grabbed Tamara by the shirt and pulled her out of the pile of accumulated bodies. A deathclaw came out of nowhere and slashed out Julie's eye. Tamara, now in front of Julie, paused. "GO!" Julie roared as the deathclaw jumped onto her to finish the job. Without a second thought, Tamara ran as fast as she could towards the gate.

People started to push through the gate. Snipers were trying to pick off as many of the deathclaws as they could from up above on the barrier. One of the snipers shouted orders at the guards below. "SHUT THE GATE!" He roared.

"There are still people out there!" A guard protested. The sniper took off his sunglasses and glared at the guard. "If you don't close that gate then everyone in here will die too!" The guard cursed and started to close the gate with the help of his colleagues. "What the hell is going on?!" Arcade questioned as he climbed up on to the barrier and stood next to the sniper. The sniper (Boone) Aimed down his scope "I have no idea, people just started running and…" He shot a deathclaw straight in the head, "deathclaws started piling in from everywhere. Arcade grabbed some binoculars from Bonne's spotter and scanned the mayhem that was going on in front of him. He saw deathclaws feasting on dead or dying humans, he counted at least 40-50 deathclaws on the main road. Then he spotted a black blur running through the pack of deathclaws. He put down the binoculars to see the black beast running towards them at an incredible speed. "Oh no..." Arcade whispered, "CLOSE THE GATE NOW!" he shouted down urgently. The guards didn't need to be told twice. "SLOW HIM DOWN!" Arcade barked at the snipers. All of them concentrated their fire on the black beast. Boone cursed, "its too fast!" He exclaimed. The guards finally shut the gate and did the lock, just in time for a massive collision from the opposite side. The gate groaned in response to the mighty blow, then scratching noise, followed by a roar so loud that it made everyone cover their ears. Arcade lowered his hands from his ears as the roar stopped, he was still standing on top of the barrier, next to Boone. "It's an alpha…" one of the snipers whimpered. Arcade, noticing the fear in the man's voice replied: "Its fine, he can't get us from up here…" Boone took aim at the alpha and pulled the trigger, the bullet hit the alpha straight in its shoulder but didn't even penetrate the monster's hide. The alpha male deathclaw snarled up at Boone. "We're not properly equipped to take him on…" Boone frustratingly shouted. A woman jumped up onto the top of the barrier. She was wearing a brown robe and wielded a heavy power fist in her right hand. "What's going-" The alpha male roared in frustration as it slashed and shouldered the gate a few more times. The woman covered her ear with her free hand, as her face contorted into a painful expression. "They got through," Boone said as he put his sniper down. The woman noticed the pack of deathclaws finishing off pieces of human meat. She stared, open mouthed, at the horrific sight of the blood stained road, bones and bits of hair and flesh that were splattered all over the road. The woman covered her mouth in disgust. Suddenly a deathclaw from within the pack roared. Boone, Arcade and the woman looked for the source, a girl with brown hair ran through the pack. Most of the deathclaws were preoccupied with the leftovers but once they sighted the girl, they burst into action for some _fresh meat._

Tamara's heart was beating a 100 beats a second and she was beginning to tire out, the only thing that was fueling her up until now was the will to live. She didn't want Julie's sacrifice to be in vain. Her foot slipped on a pool of blood and she fell onto the floor. This was it… she didn't have the energy left to get back up again or to run any longer, she cursed herself for being so weak, she cursed Joonka, she cursed the group of deathclaws that were about to snap her neck, she cursed everything… the will to live was overcome by the fatigue of constant running for the past 10 minutes. She rolled on to her back and stared helplessly into the sky awaiting death to come and take her away.

An almighty roar came from behind her, the sheer force of the voice made her instinctively cover her ears in surprise as she rolled to her side. Her head ringed from the noise. The alpha deathclaw jumped in between her and the approaching line of killers. The alpha slashed the air and roared to command his pack to back off. The approaching deathclaws all stopped in their tracks, none of them wanting to disobey the leader. When the alpha male was sure of his pack's obedience, he turned his attention to the girl on the floor. He was going to claim the human, in response to being denied the feast of everyone on the strip. His mouth parted, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth, saliva dropped from the mouth onto the space in front of Tamara, who stared in horror at the sight of the beast. A sniper shot at the alpha male, the bullets harmlessly ricocheted off its black skin. The alpha ignored the sniper and lowered his head so that it was arms length from Tamara's terrified face. She could feel the warm stench of rot coming from the deathclaws mouth. Tamara, began to cry. She didn't make any noise, tears simply came out. A few seconds ago she had accepted her fate of death but now… faced with a monster, of such horrific description, its jet black hide and long sharp horns gave it an appearance of a demon, an appearance of _death_ itself. The deathclaw paused. It slowly raised his head and stared off to somewhere behind Tamara and growled. Tamara slowly turned, she was trembling uncontrollably and a quiet gasp escaped her lips as she saw something in the distance. The alpha and the girl were looking at a street that branched out from the main road. The street was mostly empty except for a blurry figure that was crouched over and was staring at the ground. The alpha male growled again, louder this time. The figure raised its head and pulled up its massive torso, straightening out to its full height, it seemed to be almost the same height as the alpha. The red figure seemed to have noticed the alpha male's challenge. It took a step forward. The alpha male walked left and right on the same spot, and growled even louder. Tamara rubbed away her tears to get a clearer view. The figure that had the alpha male agitated was another deathclaw. However this deathclaws hide was caked in blood, making its entire skin look red. The deathclaw parted its mouth, his teeth were bloody from a previous feast perhaps, the red deathclaw raised its head and roared into the sky. The fearsome bellow of the creature matched that of the alpha, and it quickened its pace towards Tamara and the alpha until finally it stood a meter away from Tamara. It eyed the girl, and then looked up at its challenger. They both glared at each other, both daring the other one to make a move. Tamara couldn't believe her situation. She was trapped between a deathclaw thats mere appearance made you think of death, and the other deathclaw which appeared to have killed so many things, that its entire appearance was dyed in blood. The tension was suffocating. Either one of these beasts could kill her with a simple flick of the hand…

Back on top of the wall, a surprised sniper watched the deadly staring contest. He looked towards arcade and cocked an eyebrow but the scientist was staring at the two beasts in amazement. "Arcade, what's going on?" Boone whispered, he wasn't sure why he whispered but it seemed appropriate.

"The alpha felt his command was being threatened by the red one there, so now he is gonna put a stop to it…" he trailed of, awaiting the death match to start. "Veronica," Boone addressed the woman with the brown robe, "When I give the signal, pick that girl up, i'll try to cover you as best as I can…" he paused and then added: "If she isn't ripped to shreds before that."

Veronica gave a mocking salute, "sure thing captain!" Boone grunted in response and spectated the staring contest through his scope. Veronica crouched at the edge of the wall, ready to jump through when needed. She analysed the surrounding area, her eyes glanced over the crowd of 'normal' deathclaws behind the battle ready pair. She looked around the shops, they were in a poorer state than usual. Her eyes wandered up the buildings and to the rooftops… She saw a man standing on one of the roofs. He leaned on the ledge, the evening sun reflected his teeth and his red eyes… the man seemed to be watching, with a disturbing fascination towards the pair of deathclaws that were about to fight. Veronica, turned away from the mystery figure and concentrated on the upcoming battle.

The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. No one made a single sound. Tamara gulped, tears slowly started to come out again.

Then, suddenly, the red deathclaw jumped over Tamara's head. The attack was so fast that the mere movement of the deathclaw produced a wave of air that sent Tamara's hair and tears flying in to the breeze. The red deathclaw struck first. It slashed across the alpha's chest, opening up a small wound. The red beast continued his assault with a series of swipes and slashes, the alpha dodged all of them by jumping backwards and sideways. Their movement was so fast that all Tamara saw was a red and black blur. The alpha slammed into the red deathclaw and grabbed its horn, forcing its redhead onto the floor. The red deathclaw responded by whipping its tail across the alpha face, a cut appeared, just below the alpha's eye. The Alpha snarled and slammed the red deathclaw's head into the concrete road. The red deathclaw growled as the alpha threw it onto a nearby broken car. The alpha followed up his attack by jumping into the air but before the alpha could land, the red deathclaw rolled underneath the alpha's jump and got behind him. The red, grabbed the alpha's tail and swung him around in a circle then letting it go, making the alpha crash into the shop window. The alpha male instantly got back up, spread its arms and roared as it charged towards the red deathclaw, the red deathclaw met his challenge by doing the same. The black hands grabbed the red neck and the red shoulder. The red hands grabbed the alpha's horn with one hand and clawed the alphas chest with the other. They both wrestled each other on the road in circles, both trying to get the upper hand. They came dangerously close to where Tamara was sitting. One of the fighting pair's feet hit the ground next to Tamara so hard that she fell over on her back. The red deathclaw had clawed away on the alpha's chest which was now bleeding heavily. The alpha bellowed in frustrating, grabbed the red deathclaws horn and twisted it so hard that it broke in half. The pair split from each other, and started circling one another, waiting for the right opportunity to attack. The red deathclaw swung for the alpha with its right arm. The alpha anticipated this, ducked and grabbed the red arm. It sliced the red arm really hard with its razor sharp claws, opening up a deep gash. The red deathclaw roared in pain and head butt the alpha's chest, its single horn shoved deep into the alpha's chest, reaching and stabbing its heart. The alpha roared and coughed up blood as it fell on its back, the spikes behind him, broke under the heavy weight. The red deathclaw pulled out its horn and pinned the alpha's arms by standing on them. It then inflicted a series of slashes on the chest, making more blood spray out of the open wound as the deathclaw cut open an artery. The alpha slipped out its hand from underneath the gigantic foot and slashed at the red deathclaw's leg. It opened up a deep wound as more blood poured out. The red deathclaw ignored the injury on its leg and continued slashing at the alpha's chest. The alpha had lost too much blood from the hole in its chest, its strength slowly started to seep away. The red deathclaw however didn't stop its assault and carried on slashing even after the alpha stopped resisting. After a while the red deathclaw stepped back, when no response or movement came from the massive black carcass the red deathclaw raised its head into the sky and roared triumphantly. Veronica quickly jumped down and grabbed Tamara. The girl didn't even react to veronica's presence, her eyes were… empty. Veronica carried Tamara on her shoulder and started to climb a rope that Boone put down. After reaching the top of the metal wall, Veronica scanned the rooftops for the mysterious figure, but he was no where to be seen...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The test subjects**

The blood soaked deathclaw stood in silence as everyone watched. The underdog had beaten the alpha male. More blood started to seep out of the wound from its arm and leg, adding to its already red colour. An alpha male deathclaw is one of the most feared animals in the wastes, only a few have managed to kill such a powerful beast. The courier, a group of NCR desert rangers and Legate Lanius are the only people who have achieved such a feat. But an alpha being murdered by one of its own… This was unheard of. The pack of deathclaws looked at their fallen leader and then back up at its killer. The red deathclaw was panting, the deep injuries it sustained had weakened it significantly, noticing this one of the deathclaws from the pack jumped up for a surprise attack. It got on top of the alpha killer's back and clawed at its eyes. The red deathclaw covered its face with its hands as it tried shaking the attacker off. It backed up into the strips gate and repeatedly slammed the deathclaw of the iron surface. The deathclaw fell to the floor and before it could even think about getting back up, the red deathclaw stomped on its neck, crushing the deathclaw's windpipe. The deathclaw wriggled and choked under the pressure of the giant foot. Then the deathclaw stopped struggling. It lay there as still as the alpha male a few meters back. The red deathclaw, furious of the sneak attack, dashed forward, so that it was in front of the pack and roared a challenge. The pack stepped back, growling softly. The red deathclaw towered over the others, its yellow eyes glared left and right at the pack, daring them to make a move. Suddenly one of the deathclaws at the front lunged forward with the tip of its claws. The red beast, anticipating it, ducked. With one hand, the red deathclaw grabbed the outstretched arm and with the other it slashed at the deathclaws neck. The attack drew blood but it wasn't deep enough to prove fatal. The deathclaw countered by biting at the red deathclaw's injured arm. The red deathclaw stepped aside and then grabbed both horns of its opponent. He drove the deathclaw's head down. The deathclaw screeched in pain as its head hit the floor. The deathclaw on the floor started to slash blindly and luckily caught the red deathclaws injured leg. The red deathclaw roared in pain, it had enough. So, with an almighty show display of strength, it bellowed loudly as it snapped the foolish little monster's neck. Then the red deathclaw picked up the carcass and threw it at the pack, making it disperse. The deathclaws retreated down the main road, trying to get as far from the red brute as possible. The red deathclaw gave a final roar before it slowly dropped down to its knees and then collapsed onto the ground next to the alpha's corpse.

Veronica took the surviving girl in her arms and jumped down from the wall. She carefully placed the girl on kerb. "Are you al right?" Veronica asked, her face showing concern. The girl just stared into nothingness, she was still trembling and her clothes were covered in blood. "You're not hurt, are you?" Veronica asked, when no reply came she tried inspecting the girl herself, poking her in the ribs and arms to see if she had any injuries. The girl's expression didn't change. Poor girl, Veronica thought, she could only imagine how frightened the girl must be. Veronica took off her powerfist, "Come On, lets get you cleaned up." She picked up the girl and headed towards the lucky 38.

Back on the wall, Arcade Gannon was still absorbing the fight he had just witnessed. Before him was a dead alpha… he had never seen one so still before. He activated a nearby ham radio on the wall and started to give out instructions to the receiving end. Boone glanced at the man speaking into the radio and then continued to scan the main road through his scope. Arcade finished his last set of instruction and joined Boone. "Get ready, we're going to open the gate."

"Why the…" Boone was about the object but then stopped, past experience had taught him to trust in arcade's decisions, the courier had made the right choice in putting this man in charge. "We need to bring their bodies in for dissection… especially the alpha and the red one." Arcade explained. Boone snapped

"Are you out of your god damn mind?" Boone stood up, "We're not even sure if that red thing is dead!"

The lucky 38 doors opened.

"I've ordered our best hunters over, equipped with armour piercing bullets…" Boone was about to say something but Arcade interrupted, "and I also called in some extra muscle," he nodded towards a blurry figure that was talking to Veronica outside the lucky 38. Boone sighed, "whatever… if this goes south then the blood is on your hands…"

"I'm well aware." Arcade replied.

"Good," Boone climbed down the ladder and met with the incoming group of hunters. He made sure everyone was ready and well aware of the importance of the situation. Arcade also climbed down and told some guards to tend to the civilians, "keep them as far from the gate as possible, and try and keep the calm." Arcade then went towards the lucky 38. Veronica had just entered so the doors were about to close, 2 securitrons guarding the entrance, one of which had a happy face in the monitor. "Hi there!" Yes man greeted Arcade, "you look really tired… may I suggest sleeping in your, Deluxe suit?"

"Not now," Arcade waved away the robot suggestion, "I need you to listen VERY carefully."

"Its what I do!" Yes man listened as Arcade explained his plan on getting the deathclaws into the lucky 38 casino. "I would tell you how crazy you are… but I'm programmed to obey…" Yes man's monitor went blank as he started to organise the casino. Arcade jogged back to where Boone and the hunters were gathered around. They were all checking their guns, making sure they were reloaded and working. The guns varied from missile launchers to hunting rifles armed with armour piercing bullets, just like Arcade ordered. Something came up behind Arcade and blocked the sun, turning around he saw a huge blue knight kin wearing her usual straw hat. "Good, you're here."

"Awww, aren't you even gonna say hello?" She asked in a rough mutated voice. She lifted Arcade off of his feet and gave him a hug.

"Lilly you're… crushing… me," Arcade managed to say. Lilly dropped the fragile human. Arcade struggled back onto his feet, his glasses sitting in an awkward position. Lily laughed as she slapped the tiny human in the back. Some of the hunters around them sniggered. Boone glared at the guards, "Get your act together!" They immediately stopped, "I thought I explained to you, the seriousness of the situation!" He looked at each 15 of the hunters. "Don't make me repeat myself again, do I make myself clear!?"

"Yes sir!" they all replied in unison and then, one by one, climbed the ladder to the top of the wall.

"You're always such a spoil sport…" Lilly grunted as she stomped over to the 2 guards waiting by the gate.

Boone turned to Arcade, "If that red thing so much as flinches, I'm putting a bullet through its head." and with that the sniper climbed the ladder and took position next to the other hunters. Arcade looked back, the guards had calmed down the civilians and told them to go inside the Gomorrah temporarily. Satisfied, Arcade turned back and gave the guards next to Lily a thumbs up who then started to unlock the massive gate. Opening a few locks and bolts, a loud click came from the gate and then they pushed it open…

Lily instantly disappeared. A few seconds later she reappeared next to the alpha male's body. She put one of its arms around her shoulder and started to drag it back to the strip, "Ugh… you're… a heavy… fella aren't you…" She panted. Meanwhile the group of hunters and sniper were scoping out potential threats. Boone clicked in a fresh MAG of armour piercing bullets and then looked through his scope. The street was clear, the deathclaws that had dispersed earlier were no where to be seen. Boone searched the nearby buildings but couldn't detect any movement. Lily finally dragged the heavy beast into the strip and laid it down on to the nearby kerb. She straightened her back as she tried to catch her breath.

"You okay there grandma?" Arcade asked with fake concern. Lily laughed and then disappeared. She was next sighted by Arcade at the deathclaw's body. The deathclaw, who first attack the red deathclaw, wasn't anything special, in terms of deathclaws but it was still heavy. The hunters sighted a deathclaw 30-40 meters from the gate. It was sniffing the floor, probably on the scent of a nearby rat. "Don't shoot," Boone whispered, "It hasn't noticed us yet. Lily Dropped off the deathclaw next to the alpha's body. She then went back for the red deathclaw. Picking it up, she felt its sticky skin. "Ooohh… now you don't worry their dearie, we'll get you cleaned right up!" Lily whispered to it. The red deathclaw lifted its eyelids, its yellow eyes stared at the super mutant. Lily froze, she slowly reached for her knight in her belt, keeping her eyes on the deathclaw. The red deathclaw's eyes shut again, it was too exhausted. Lily continued dragging the beast when she heard a roar. The deathclaw that was sniffing before had lost interest and was now staring right at the knight kin. The deathclaw cried out again, alerting the others. It opened its mouth to roar for a third time when, a bullet whizzed through the air, into its mouth ,and out of the back of its head. The deathclaw dropped to the floor. Lily tried quickening her pace, but the red monster was as heavy as the alpha male and slowed her progress.

More deathclaws came into view, some jumped out of buildings and others out of the nearby streets that branched out from the main road. All of them noticed the heavy door...open. They all shouted in delight as they started to run towards the strip. Boone cursed, "Let them have it!"

The group of hunters started firing at the incoming horde. The armour piercing bullets came in handy as they dropped a deathclaw one at a time. However even with the hunters excellent marksmanship the flow of monstrosities was not stopping. "Shoot the missiles!" Boone ordered.

Lily finally pulled the deathclaw into the strip as missiles showered behind her. She let go of the deathclaw and immediately made her way back to help the guards close the gate. One of the deathclaws made it through to the, almost closed, gate.

Lily disappeared.

The deathclaw slipped through the gate just before it shut. It eyes quickly selected for a target. A man with blonde hair and glasses came into view. The deathclaw charged at Arcade, who simply stood there with his arms folded. The deathclaw jumped and was about to slash Arcade's face off when he stopped in mid air and dropped to the ground. It looked back to see a super mutant holding its tail. Lily grunted as she spun the deathclaw around and threw it onto a nearby wall. She disappeared. The deathclaw shook its head, trying to get its head clear when suddenly a gloved hand materialised from thin air and face palmed the deathclaw into the wall. "Lily SMASH, YEAAHHAAHHHH!" The super mutant shouted in excitement as she repeatedly smashed the deathclaws head into the wall. After the first hit a loud crack came from the deathclaws head, Lily continued smashing until she could see the back of the deathclaw's brain. She let go of the deathclaw and let its lifeless body fall to the ground.

Arcade sighed, "Now we can't inspect its brain…" The guards finished locking the gate. After a few seconds Boone climbed down to see the super mutant, some guards and the blonde headed man dragging the red deathclaw. "Could you… you know, give us… a hand?" Arcade said, through gritted teeth. Boone shouldered his sniper and went over to the group in escorting the gate.

_**Meanwhile, somewhere in Freeside…**_

_The guards in charge of the western Freeside gate were on full alert. They had recently gotten word of a breach from the south and were ordered to shoot anything on sight. Ray Nolif, was assigned the duty of guarding the western gate, along with a group of 5 other guards. _

"_What you think happened?" He heard one of them say._

"_No idea, could be anything…" Another guard replied, "Hey Ray, what you think?" Ray didn't answer, he was too worried for his brother, who was stationed there. One of the guards spotted something in the distance, he whistled to the others, drawing their attention towards a group of dots in the distance. All the guards got their weapons ready, tense with anticipation. All they could do was wait for the dots to come nearer. As the dots got nearer the sun reflected something shiny, the light hit the guard's eyes blinding them temporarily. "What was that?!" one of them exclaimed, rubbing his eyes. No one answered, they were all fixated onto the, now white, dots in the distance. Each of them knew too well of the responsibility of keeping the Freeside gate safe._

_After a while the figures, dots, came into better view._

_They were human._

_The guards slightly eased up but then noticed the symbol on their silvery armour. The symbol of a sword and cogs encased in a circle. Ray quickly walked to the ham radio to report…_

Raul Tejada considered himself the luckiest ghoul alive. Although a while back, when he was forced to work for a very bossy super mutant, he considered himself being very unfortunate. However he found himself having a stroke of luck as he accidentally bumped into a mysterious man in a duster. The ghoul then travelled the land with the mysterious man, helping him survive in the dusty expanse by keeping his gear in check. But after he endured the hardships with the mystery man, he found himself rewarded by him with a 5 star deluxe suit in the lucky 38. LUCKY 38, he laughed. The ghoul walked into his bathroom where he stepped inside of the bath tub. He sighed in relief as the warm liquid washed through his rough skin. He poured some wine into a glass and swirled it around before sipping it. "Aahhh…" the taste filled his dry mouth.

After a while he stepped out, grabbing a towel and drying himself as he made his way outside of the bathroom and towards his wardrobe. He opened the 2 wide doors and studied his selection of suits, a couple of jumpsuits and a sheriff's uniform. The ghoul smiled as he took out one of his best suits. He dropped his towel and got dressed and was about to walk out when he saw something in the mirror.

"Why...hello there…" He gave the mirror a look, "I've never seen a man look so good in a suit before…" He got closer to the mirror, "you wanna… dance?" He asked the mirror, the mirror said yes and he instantly lifted it off its frame. Don't worry, I'm a professional he winked. The pair of them flew through the room as Raul hummed a tune, he bobbed his head towards the mirror, "Maybe after this, me and you cou-" A loud crack from behind him made him jump and drop the mirror. It shattered as it hit the floor. The ghoul cursed and turned towards the sound. It came from a ham radio. "*Crack* Mister Tejada, are you there sir!? *crack* this is the western guard! *over*" Raul mumbled some curses as he stomped towards the radio and answered the call. "What is it!?" He questioned.

"Well sir…*crack* you're not going to believe this…"

"Try me,"

"Well…" The guard explained to him to his situation. The ghouls eyes widened as he did so.

"Are you sure?" Raul asked.

"Positive," came a reply. The ghoul immediately dropped the radio and rushed out of his room. He heard Veronica's door close as he jogged towards the elevator. Entering, he pushed the down button and waited. The elevator music, turned on as he got transported downwards. He straightened up his bow tie and suit. Several seconds later the elevator door opened and he walked out to see a bloody deathclaw, a super mutant, and 4 humans in the lobby.

"Do you think it will fit in the elevator?" One of them asked.

Raul opened his mouth and then closed it, he held up a finger and then he brought it down.

"Probably," he sighed...


	8. Chapter 8: An unlikely encounter

Chapter 8: An unlikely encounter

They started to squish in the bodies of the massive beasts into the elevator. Arcade ordered the guards to stay in the lobby, as no one but the individuals chosen by the courier were allowed passed the lobby. The guards obeyed, and turned to leave when Arcade stopped them. "Get someone to mop this up," he nodded towards the blood on the floor, "thanks" he added. The guards mumbled something under their breath and walked out.

"Arcade, can I have a word?" Raul asked.

"Is it really important, as you can see I'm kinda-"

"Its important," he interrupted.

Arcade paused and he gave Raul a questioning look, then walked towards him, "Okay… but make it quick."

As the ghoul and the scientist exchanged words, Boone and Lily finished pushing the red deathclaw into the elevator. The deathclaw gave a low growl.

Boone kicked it in the chin. The deathclaw moaned and then went quite.

The pair finished talking and Raul made his way to the exit. "What was that about?" Boone questioned. Arcade seemed to be lost in thought then shook his head.

"We'll find out soon enough…" he go into the elevator and pressed the button.

_**During the same time…**_

_A dog appeared on an end of a broken, main road. The dog creeped forward as it smelt the floor. It's metallic legs gave a low creaking noise as it bent down. With a final satisfied sniff the dog turned its head and barked. A man walked up next to it, eyes scanning the area ahead. The man wore a duffel bag and a torn, sleeveless duster. The number 21 was stitched on the back of the dusty leather. He also had a hidden torso holster which was occupied by a very special revolver, with detailed silver patterns on the bullet barrel. The pair walked on through the broken road. Abandoned buildings surrounded them left and right. Some windows were shattered, some walls were broken, the usual. _

_As they walked the man noticed piles of broken bones on either side. They seemed to have been from ants that died long ago. The man turned a corner and stopped. The dog next to him tensed and gave a soft growl. Opposite the pair stood another man, leaning on a street lamp, his arms folded. This man wore dirty old clothes that barely fit him and had grey hair. The cyborg dog growled louder. In response the man at the street lamp turned slowly to look at the pair, revealing two small yellow eyes. He stood up straight and walked towards the pair. The dog growled even louder at the advancing man, but its master stood calm and silent. The weird man stopped short a meter before the pair, paying no attention to the mutt's growling, and addressed the man beside the beast._

"_You the courier?" He asked, his voice was deep and hollow._

_The man opposite him nodded once. The weird man studied the courier for a few seconds then said, "Right this way."_

_He turned and walked on, an indication to the courier to follow. The courier crouched down and patted the dog next to him on the head, showing him everything was alright. He stood up again and jogged towards the oddly dressed man until they were walking side by side. Rex quickly followed his master. The trio walked for a while without speaking, then the man broke the silence. "So… you're from vegas?" he enquired, his eyes kept staring forward at the road ahead._

_The courier scratched his head, "Sort of…" he paused, "I move around a lot, but I guess you can say I'm from there." The man nodded at the answer. Several seconds of silence followed as they continued walking, the courier decided its his turn to make conversation. "Who exactly are you, If you don't mind me asking" The courier asked._

"_No one you should be concerned about," he replied, "I was just passing by this place when I met her, she convinced me to stay with her for a while."_

"_Tell me about her," the courier asked, trying to keep the conversation going._

"_I just met her, you probably know more about her than me… with the rumours and all." They turned a corner._

"_I see…" the courier thought, "but if you don't know anything about her then why stay with her?" He paused for a response, when none came he continued. "You a lost relative… an old acquaintance or a lover perhaps?" _

_The man gave a brief chuckle. "She convinced me to stay… that is all," the courier thought about pressing the matter for further information but then abandoned the plan as he started to realise the caged and distant personality the man had. There was no use in talking to him, he was too reserved to open up. The courier, rex and the man continued walking until they came across a broken old diner. Some of the windows were still intact but most of them were broken. The man stopped at the entrance and leaned next to the rusty cafe wall. "Go ahead," he folded his arms, "She's waiting." _

_The courier nodded his thanks, which was most likely ignored because the man closed his eyes and started to sleep._

_The courier walked in, the rusty counter had a broken glass and several empty bottles of alcohol. Not much else remained in the diner, most likely already scavenged from prospectors and other raiders. The courier looked left, he glanced over the different seats of red worn out cushions but found that no one was there. He then turned right and saw someone with their head down. The courier walked cautiously towards the person, as sound of breathing came from next to person. A dog lay next to the person's seat, sound asleep. Rex barked, awaking the other dog from his sleep. The dog stood up straight, wide alert and eyed the pair that had just entered the diner. As the courier approached, a woman came into view, she seemed to be eating a bowl of noodles with an old spoon. The courier dropped his bag on the seat opposite her and sat down. The woman kept on eating her noodles, paying no attention to the man on the other end of the table._

_Rex sat next to his masters seat and kept his eyes glued to the other dog, who returned his stare._

_The courier pulled out a fresh bottle of sunset sarsaparilla from his bag. He pulled off the cap and drank heavily from the glass bottle. He placed the bottle back onto the table as he licked his dry lips. The courier started to get comfortable in his ruined seat, he put his arm over the top of the seat and put one leg on top of the other, waiting for the woman to finish her noodles._

_Moments later the woman picked up her bowl and drank from it, bits of soup trickled down to her chin which she quickly wiped away with her sleeve. The courier studied her closely, she had a pip boy on her wrist and was covered herself in a dusty cloak, however he could just make out faint blue leather behind the overcoat. _

_She looked up for the first time, she studied him for a while then nodded towards the couriers drink. "Whats that?"_

_The courier gave a bewildered look, is she for real? Then he turned the bottle so that the bottle label was visible to her. _

"_Never seen it before," she mused, "I don't travel as much as you do…" _

_The courier slid the bottle across the table and the woman grabbed it. _

"_Go ahead," the courier earged. The woman took a little sip, then another, and then gulped down several mouthfuls of the cool drink. She finished the drink before long and threw the empty bottle behind her into a broken table, the bottle shattered. The noise echoed through the diner and onto the empty streets outside. _

"_You ready to talk or…" the courier questioned._

_The woman smiled. "What do you want to know?"_

"_I've heard rumours about you, people say you've had dealings with the enclave before, is that correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Are they to blame for what's happening?" the courier maintained a calm voice when he questioned the woman._

"_Who knows…" she teased, "I have been to the enclave, seen them experimenting on deathclaws but whether or not they are...__**responsible**__...is it not for me to say." The courier paused to think about what to say next. "I'm not sure who or what is responsible for these deathclaws but all i can say is that they have, in some way, evolved..."_

_The courier's silenced indicated to the woman to continue. "Normally most deathclaws are beast like and behave much like normal animals, in terms of intelligence. But lately I've found some that displayed a unique type of smart," she spoke in a fascinated tone, "they realise certain things, they run when I throw bombs, try to keep into closed places to try and force me into close combat, and in some cases they don't even attack!" She caught herself getting carried away in the explanation, she seemed proud of herself for her extensive documentation of the species. She cleared her throat, "at least… thats what I concluded…" Several shadowy figures appeared in the streets outside, the shadows were followed by low growling noises. Rex and the other dog barked at their masters._

"_I came to the same conclusion," the courier glanced through the window, "I...better get going, you need any help or…?"_

_The woman gave a short laugh and waved his offer aside. "You better get back quick, not sure how much more your city can take."_

"_Been nice meeting you," the courier got up, "good luck"_

"_Yeah...you too," the woman threw away her dusty cloak and pulled out a strange gun. _

_The courier, too pulled out the delicate revolver from his torso holster just in time, as a deathclaw burst through a nearby window..._

**_R&R, let me know where you think the story is headed!_**


End file.
